Told in a Day
by DustyFoxes
Summary: Shiraishi Kuranosuke is a 19 year old boy who's studying in Tokyo on a tennis scholarship. But one day, he returns to his hometown of Osaka to tell his love story in a day. Who's he telling it to? What do homing pigeons have anything to do with it? And why is he crying? The answer lies within...


**_AN:_** I know that I should really type my multi-chapter story Forgiveness instead of typing this, but I wrote this 3-4 weeks ago during my exam (cost me my A+, but I couldn't focus with this in my mind anyway). Well, my friend and I were chatting in school today about some stories I wrote for her before and this came up. So when I tried to type the other story this wouldn't let me be. But enough blabbing from me, onto the story!

_Told in a Day_

The sun was just beginning to shoot its rays of warmth and life across the beautiful skyline of Osaka. As the city was illuminated inch by inch and sleepy students, teachers, parents and workers were roused from their sleep to begin a new day, Shiraishi Kuranosuke was already awake and making his way to an unlikely place to find a boy of nineteen, the hospital graveyard.

One might suppose he was going to visit his grandparents' grave perhaps, or maybe even the terrible loss of his parents, but this wasn't the case as his immediate family were all well and fine. He soon reached his destination near the front of the graveyard. He put down his burdens, a tennis bag and a bouquet of white roses, and began cleaning the newest addition to the motley collection of graves, the grave of a seventeen year old girl who had passed away around 6 months ago.

Once he was done cleaning, he put the long-stemmed, thorn-less roses on the grave, tears almost threatening to spill out of his clear greyish-brown eyes. Taking a deep breath, he blinked away the tears and said in a light voice, "Well, Lynn, I'm back! Told you I'd make it back for our first year anniversary." He said, sitting by the grave.

"It's a nice day isn't it? Weather's just nice for tennis or gardening. My school in Tokyo, yeah, it's got great tennis facilities. I brought you a present from there by the way. I think you'll like it. I had it made especially for times like this. I've been planning it since last year, when we got together. So it's really special."

Pulling his tennis bag closer he took out a thick volume that was tied with a brilliant green ribbon.

" Tada! It's a photo album, of our memories. Shall we look at it Lynn?" Pausing, as if listening to an answer no one else could hear, he nodded and pulled the ribbon off, tying it around the roses.

"I knew you would say that. Look, the first picture is from our first meeting. I came to the hospital and I found you in the hospital garden. You were in a wheelchair and you were looking at some flowers. I asked you what you were doing and you told me you were thinking of killing yourself. I remember that expression on your face when you realised that you said that out loud. You were so cute! We went to the swing nearby and while I wheeled you there you asked me what I was sick for. You thought the bandages on my arm was from some sort of terrible disease. I told you the truth, which shocked me. It's always been so easy to open up to you. Then we sat on the swing and I had to hold you close because you were afraid that you would fall off. That was the day I found out your sickness and your pain, but also the day I found the most beautiful girl I have ever known."

"This is from our first date, a month later, exactly one year ago. I had finally got the courage to ask you out, after visiting you every day. Remember the nurses came to see you off? Everyone loved you so much. Then we went to eat takoyaki. Remember how I had to feed you because you were too weak to even pick up the food? Look! This is the picture of you blushing as I fed you. You were so embarrassed. Sorry that the quality isn't very good as it was a self-shot. But you look as beautiful as always."

"And voila! I brought takoyaki as a snack for us as we enjoy today. It's from the same place and it's as delicious as always." Keeping up his monologue, he ate the food as he continued reminiscing about the pictures arrayed in the book. The sun climbed ever higher as he kept up his chatter, going over the time she met the tennis team, the crazy antics and meetings that followed, the times when other schools came to challenge their school after they won Nationals for the first time, the crazy antics that followed that, the times the two spent together, just basking in each other's company…

Then lunchtime arrived and Shiraishi pulled out cheese risotto. As he ate he continued to keep up his one-sided conversation. He talked about how she had finally broken down all the walls between them and the time she cried in his arms as she told him about how abandoned she felt by her family who, while paying for her treatment, never bothered to visit her or even call her, despite her long letters to them.

"Oh look, we've reached here now. Your surprise birthday party. I remember how we called everyone here, Seigaku, Hyotei, Rikkaidai, Higa Chuu, Fudomine, Yamabuki, Rokkaku… All the tennis teams gathered in one place, just for you. My sisters bought you a dress and blindfolded you as the nurses changed you. Then they brought you to Shitenhouji's tennis courts where we were all waiting. See, this is a picture of your shocked face when they opened the blindfold. You look so cute… You nearly cried when you realised what was going on. You look like an angel in this white dress. You were so radiant and lovely, you were shining. And when I complimented you, you said "you don't look too bad yourself." I was so mad, I had spent the whole day dressing up, even learning how to tie a bowtie for the tuxedo. But we laughed about it and enjoyed ourselves. There was music and dancing and good food. And everyone was teasing us for being "too adorable for words" while giving you a generous load of presents."

"This is a special picture Lynn. Fuji took it without our knowledge. I didn't even know he had it until he passed this copy to me 5 months ago when I moved to Tokyo. You haven't seen it yet. This was when you told me you wanted to dance, remember? You whispered it into my ear as you gazed at the couples slow dancing to the soft music. I was going to wheel you out, but I realised what you meant was that you wanted to dance properly, cheek-to-cheek like all the others. But how were we going to do that? Your illness meant you couldn't walk or even stand. You couldn't even move your arms properly! Then I got a bright idea. Yes, I'm going to give myself all the credit for it. It's true anyway. I put your arms around me and picked you up, holding you up in a hug. Luckily I could support your weight. You were too light anyway. Then just as we got started, the song changed, but we didn't care. We slow danced to a fast song, and while my arms hurt after, I never regretted it. It was worth every second because of the smile you gave me after as you said it made you feel alive again. And your eyes for once didn't look so shattered and broken. I knew at that moment I loved you."

"Remember the tennis match you forced Tezuka and Echizen to have? Somehow you managed to make Tezuka say "Tezuka Zooooonnnneeee" (AN: Like in the chibi episodes) when he began using his Tezuka Zone. That was the first and only time we heard the stoic buchou make a joke. We all laughed so hard our stomachs hurt. Even Echizen was laughing too hard that the match had to be discontinued. Inui and Renji were laughing too hard to take data! That's the effect you had on us. Though you couldn't move your arms or legs, you were always the life of the party. Then just as we stopped laughing, your phone rang. It was the hospital telling us they had found a cure for you! There was so much cheering and happiness. You had a place in all of our hearts, and my heart was yours."

"On our way back to the hospital, you told me it was the best birthday you've ever had. Though your parents didn't fly in or even call, you insisted it was perfect. I kissed you then, our first kiss. It was magical, wonderful, and glorious. It was _ecstasy… _I whispered "I love you" and you said "I love you too". Then you said that your perfect birthday was better than perfection now."

"And here you are, the first day after treatment. You were so excited to be able to walk again that you ran all the way down to the school's tennis courts and stood at the gates. Time stood still for me. I lost my match point because I was so busy staring at you. You were glowing with happiness. I couldn't believe my eyes at first. Not until I ran to you and held you in my arms, I could process the fact that you were healthy and well. Forever seemed like a reality then."

"And here we are, a month later, our first fight. I was so scared of losing you and you wanted to be free and we fought so hard over it. I said so many things that I didn't mean, like how I wished you were sick again so that you would look only at me like you used to. I yelled that you were using me because I was the only guy who would love you while you were stuck in that chair. And you cried. And I realised what I said and I regretted it instantly. I ran over to you and held you close, whispering "I'm sorry" the whole time. I was, I still am sorry. I wish I could take those hurtful words back and burn them so that they'll never hurt you, but it's too late."

"And you forgave me, though even now I still can't forgive myself. As I cried into your hair, angry at myself for hurting you, you said to me "I'm like a pigeon whose wings were broken, but now I'm healed and I want to fly. But like a pigeon, I will always come home, and my home is here, in your arms, with you." I hugged you and kissed the top of your head and told you I would always be here for you."

He paused to wipe his tears away. It was almost evening. The sun was dropping gently down the horizon, late afternoon. He took a ragged breath and turned the page.

"Then you found the letter I got. The tennis scholarship. You made me take it. And I told you that you were my "home". And you smiled that sweet smile you saved for me when I needed you the most and said "soar higher, so that when you come back, you would've tasted the world." You were so mature. I didn't understand that, I couldn't understand half the things you said actually, but now I understand. I've learnt so much these last few months…"

"Here we are again, a week after I confirmed my acceptance of the scholarship. I ran to the hospital to tell you the good news, you were supposed to only be there for a check-up, but I found you crying. You told me you were dying, it was almost time. I couldn't believe it. You were just better. We cried in each other's arms and I told you that I would be strong for you and you had to fight. I said that they might find a cure again. You just smiled one of those wise, mysterious smiles and told me to be strong no matter what."

"I asked you what you meant by that and you whispered that it would be too late by the time they found a cure. I fought against that notion. A lifetime with you would have been too short and I only had less than a week left? It was impossible for me to fathom. You held me that night, being my rock, holding me aloft instead of me you. Why is it that you were so calm and I so disturbed when it was your life in the balance, not mine? I wish I could understand that. But you held me and we talked and talked and talked and I finally came to terms with it."

"One last kiss, one last whispered "I love you" and you were gone. You were gone Lynn, gone. And the doctor pronounced you dead as the whole hospital cried, but you were gone, Lynn, gone." Wet tears ran down his face and the sun painted it red as it finally sunk into a sunset.

As the cool of the evening slipped around him, his tears finally ran dry. He hadn't cried when it had happened, nor during the funeral, nor when he was offered condolences, but he cried today. A day that he had thought would be a happy day, less than a year ago.

"Lynn, my friends, they're telling me to move on. But I don't want to lose some days, I wake up, trying to remember the smell of your shampoo, the sound of your laugh and for a second, I almost have it, then it's gone. Fuji, he knows that I stay up some nights, watching old videos of you, but it's not the same. I feel lost sometimes Lynn. I can't lose you. I love you, but that doesn't change the fact that you're gone. I need to move on. But moving on means losing more of you, and I don't want that. I wish you were here. I miss you. And I know that I'm a fool, but I wish I could turn back the clock. But I can't, it's too late, you're gone."

He stood up. "I know you would want me to move on, and I will. I'm going to move on. But I'm not going to forget you. You're the first girl I've ever loved this way. I'm going to remember you, and I'm going to soar ever higher until one day, I reach you. I'm sorry Lynn, but I can't hold on to a ghost. I'm living. I know you'd want this for me. I know you want me to."

As he packed up the remains of his day there and prepared to leave, he felt a light touch on the back of his neck, a caress that raised the fine hairs there. Hoping against hope, he turned around, hoping to see her there, even if it were just a shade. But it was the wind. Yet as he stood there, he felt her presence surround him, giving him peace. And he smiled and left the grave with only six words left.

"I love you, I miss you."

**_AN:_** Okay, this made me a little bit depressed. This idea came to me as a multi-chapter idea, finding the girl in the hospital and all the other things, but I never got around to writing it (like 99% of my ideas…) so if you want to know more details or anything, you can pm me. Anyway, I got bored during my exam and Shiraishi was _demanding_ I write his story and somehow it ended up like this. I kinda like it better this way, but let me know what you think!

Also, check out my fic _Forgiveness_ if you like. It's a massively different style, I think, but yea...

Reviews are nice...

-DustyFoxes-


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